6 Most Important Things in Business Today

Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) will feature NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in some of its ads. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Nike Inc. will feature Colin Kaepernick, the National Football League quarterback who led player protests during the national anthem, in a new advertising campaign, a move that joins one of the NFL’s biggest business partners with a controversial star who is engaged in a high-profile legal battle with the league.

Mr. Kaepernick, the former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, revealed his role in the campaign in a tweet on Monday that was subsequently retweeted by Nike’s corporate Twitter account. A person familiar with the matter said Mr. Kaepernick will be part of a renewed Nike “Just Do It” campaign, and his face will be featured in ads and on billboards.

It was a big weekend for milestones as Crazy Rich Asians continued its stellar run, finishing atop the weekend box office for the third weekend in a row and topping $110 million domestically. Meanwhile, Sony’s Searching delivered a strong performance in expanded release while Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout made a big splash in China and Disney and Pixar’s Incredibles 2 became only the ninth film ever to top $600 million at the domestic box office.

At the top of the domestic weekend box office, WB’s Crazy Rich Asians delivered a three-day gross totaling an estimated $22.2 million, which marks just a 10% drop compared to last weekend as the film’s domestic gross now totals over $110 million. The film is expected to generate around $28 million for the four-day holiday for a domestic gross topping $116 million.

Samsung will launch a revolutionary smartphone. According to CNBC:

Samsung will unveil a foldable smartphone later this year, the CEO of its mobile division told CNBC, amid rumors that such a device was in the works.

DJ Koh said that “it’s time to deliver” on a foldable device after consumer surveys carried out by Samsung showed that there is a market for that kind of handset.

The price of oil could move above $90 a barrel. According to CNBC:

U.S. crude oil hasn’t traded at $95 a barrel since 2014, but this is the year that could change.

Energy expert John Kilduff counts Iran sanctions as the top reason West Texas Intermediate (WTI) could climb as much as 30 percent by winter, and that could spell $4 a gallon unleaded gasoline at the pumps.

Tariffs could undermine Chinese manufacturing activity. According to CNNMoney:

Chinese factories are losing export orders and laying off workers as the trade war with the United States exacerbates an economic slowdown that started earlier this year.

Growth in output from China’s huge manufacturing sector slumped last month to its lowest level in more than a year, according to the results of a survey of hundreds of companies published Monday.

According to Yahoo News, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Model 3 production has slowed. The site reports:

Tesla isn’t producing the Model 3 as fast as it hoped. That’s according to a Sunday report that claims the company did not meet its goal of producing 6,000 cars per week by the end of August. The report does note, however, that the company is still likely to meet its overall quarterly goal of between 50,000 and 55,000 Model 3s.